The Canadian forces can't be gender-blind

Kandahar, Afghanistan. 21 November 2009- Sgt Tanya Casey, a volunteer from the Camp Nathan Smith, greets an Afghan woman during the celebration of Eid al-Adha organized by the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team where bags of flour, prayer carpets and tea were donated.

On July 9, the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Tom Lawson, issued an update on the External Independent Review that will investigate sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Several sex scandals have haunted the military over the past 15 years, but evidently, bringing these scandals to light has not brought about meaningful change.

I would suggest this independent review should revisit the policies by which female military personnel, approximately 15 per cent of the force, have been integrated into the CAF. While the situation has improved, it’s time to further encourage women’s participation by making enhanced military effectiveness the focal point rather than simply advocating in favour of gender equality for gender equality’s sake.

This means focusing on how the integration of women translates into a better overall force, so that diversity is embraced rather than imposed.

The first example should be drawn from Canada’s experience in Afghanistan. Military interventions need to engage with every segment of the population because security threats vary from group to group. For instance, while Afghan men take up arms and fight on the battlefield, women and children stay back home but face security risks that are ignored if there are no female soldiers on site to respond to community-level security concerns. NATO allies deployed female engagement teams that were created to do just that. This strategy paid off and showcased what women can bring to the fight.

Acknowledging the security risks and threats faced by the whole population, rather than just the fighting population, is sound military strategy. This realization has been enshrined in UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and is influencing the way the Canadian government will make policy in the future. NATO also continues to implement that vision with its Women, Peace and Security initiative.

For the military to be at its strongest, it should recruit from the most diverse pool of applicants. The CAF have an interest in making military careers more attractive to women.

One way to achieve this is to redefine job requirements in the military to better reflect the physical standards that are actually needed for the job. The new physical aptitude test, called the FORCE evaluation, is an encouraging development. Reviewing job-specific fitness requirements goes a step further. Yes, that sometimes means adjusting the physical standards for certain positions so that the most qualified person (but not necessarily strongest physically) can accomplish it. Our cyberwarriors need not benchpress 400 pounds, but must have the acumen to operate on several different digital platforms. Opening jobs this way means more applicants and more competition for the position. It strengthens the military by increasing the recruitment pool, which makes sense for a country with an aging population. The military needs to recruit more women.

In the CAF, however, the mantra is that the military is blind to gender, meaning that a soldier is a soldier, male or female. That approach made sense when women were first integrated into the military, but the recent sexual assault cases remind us that gender does matter, actually. The gender-blind approach does not work.

So how can we truly make room for women in the CAF? Let’s use the opportunity provided by this external review to study Canadian military culture so that it can be shaped by both women and men in the future. It will also take outspoken individuals like Australia’s army chief who took a firm, public stand on the issue in his own country. Canadians can start by focusing on a core goal shared by all members of the CAF, namely how best to achieve military success. Hint: the answer involves women.

Stéfanie von Hlatky is Director of the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen’s University and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Studies. She is also the Board Chair of Women in International Security – Canada.

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